Once again, we begin the Torah from the beginning – or Beginning – with the magnificent story of the creation.

Is it scientifically accurate?  Not very.  It’s beautiful poetry that describes the universe as “wild and waste.”

God hovered over the face of the waters, and the first thing God said was

LET THERE BE LIGHT.

Since everything had been darkness before, God now separated the darkness from the light and that was the very first day.

On the second day God said: let there be a dome between the upper waters and the lower waters and called the upper dome Heaven.

On the third day, God said: gather the waters of the lower dome together and let the dry land be seen.  The land he called Earth and the water Seas.  God said:  Let the earth grow seeds and fruit and trees.

On the fourth day, God made the sun and the moon to provide light and to separate the light from the darkness.

On the fifth day, God decreed that the oceans should swarm with living things and that the heavens be filled with birds

On the sixth day, God made wildlife and herd animals and crawling things

On the seventh day, God created humankind in God’s image, male and female.  God blessed them and told them to have lots of children and to have authority over the animals.  God gave them all the plants for eating and said the animals got to eat the plants too.  God saw that it was exceedingly good.

God gave the seventh day his blessing and made it holy, for on it he had stopped all his work.

Food for Thought:

What does it mean that God gave humans dominion (authority, control, mastery) over the animals?